Like hamsters at a pet shop.

Thanks to a friend of ours, we were able to view his brother’s newly-moved-in 4-room flat in Sengkang. His flat was of interest to us because it shares the exact same floor plan as the ones in the Costa Ris project — and also the 4- and 5-room BTO projects in Tampines.

Just how many new HDB projects share this very crappy floor plan, I wonder. Toilet right smack in front of the bathroom sink?!

My first reaction when I stepped into the flat — at the risk of sounding like a total diva, complain queen or whatever but I’m not about to lie — was that of horror. I wasn’t expecting the living room to be that small from the floor plan. If I didn’t know better, I would’ve mistaken the whole flat for a 3-room!

Just to be clear, I’m referring solely to the size of the flat. The living room didn’t feel like the living room of a whole house — just a part of it. It felt more like a chalet or like a small hotel room where you’d stay a few days, not where you actually live.

I sat on the couch, feeling a huge disconnect with the house. With the government. With Singapore.

Crappy floor plans, influx of foreigners (not racist, just feel Singapore’s losing its original identity), skyrocketing prices of housing that are shrinking in size….what the hell, Singapore? This isn’t the Singapore I once swore never to leave!

Anyway, point is I felt really claustrophobic. The home is supposed to be a retreat, a place for you to wind down. But I could never give birth to inspiration within those four walls.

That is, unless I add more walls by breaking down the bedroom next to the living room. But doing this ensures we can’t live there for long if we plan to have children. And we do.

This is where the disconnect extends into a dilemma. I’m thinking if we should get a resale flat instead. This’ll save us the hassle of having to move again after five years, and after having grown attached to our house (despite the major space constraint, I’m pretty sure we’ll manage to make it look fantastic). Then there’s also the question of whether we’d be ready to finance one in two years.

It’s strange, though. The boyfriend, who is grizzly-sized, doesn’t seem to mind the small space! I strongly think that his excitement has clouded his judgment.

Somehow the rest of the house didn’t matter as much to me as the living room because the latter’s the first thing people see when they enter the house. It’s where people congregate and hang out, so it’s got to be nicer and more spacious. The rest of the house is already so small — I need to have at least one area where inspirations can be born.

Despite my gripes, I still really am looking forward to it. There is absolutely no doubt my anticipation far outweighs my anguish. Our house may be small, yes, but I promise it’ll also be nothing short of fantastic.